The sphere of influence the Iraq and Al Sham militants control,
as of June, stretches through large swathes of northern and
eastern Syria, as well as parts of northern and western Iraq.

Now a quite lucrative tourist trade operates without borders or
ID cards, with its jihadist bus flying the black flag and
ferrying fighters across the conquered lands.

AFP spoke to a number of rebels and activists by phone, who
explained how the business venture works.

Many of the vacationing jihadists are from abroad. According to
an activist, a Chechen was among the first. The 26-year-old Abu
Abdel Rahman al-Shishani recently got married to a Syrian, whom
he took on a honeymoon to Anbar.

“These jihadists are very romantic,” Hadi Salameh, the
activist, told the news agency, adding that she sat in the back
of the vehicle, as is customary. The lovebirds listened to
jihadist songs as their bus took off from Tal Abyad, on the
border with Turkey, and headed towards Iraq’s Anbar.

“You can get off wherever you want, and you don't need a
passport to cross the border,” Salameh, who is a Raqa
resident and uses a pseudonym, continued.

“Of course it’s not free,” he said of the tours. Prices
vary depending on distance traveled.

Speaking to AFP by phone, one Syrian rebel said that the
foreigners among the jihadists “communicate in English and
wear the Afghan-style clothing preferred by the jihadists.”

“There is a translator on the bus, who explains to them where
they are going. The men on the bus are not armed, but vehicles
carrying armed escorts accompany the bus,” Abu Quteiba
al-Okaidi said.

Another activist, Abu Ibrahim al-Raqawi, told the agency that
“tour buses run twice a week, on Wednesday and Sunday. It
works like any bus company would, except that it treats areas
under Islamic State control in Iraq and Syria as one state.”

“Many people living in this area (northern Syria through
western Iraq) have tribal ties stretching across the border. So
they use these buses to visit their families,” he told AFP
over the internet, adding that others use it “to do business,
while some just want to take a break from the shelling in
Syria.”

The Islamic State has gained significant ground in both Syria and
Iraq after its initial assault on the city of Mosul in mid-June.
The group has since declared the creation of an Islamic state, or
caliphate, straddling the Iraq-Syria border. Its presence
continues to hang over the Iraqi capital Baghdad, although it
seems to have halted after capturing key Sunni areas.

The group is famous for torture, public punishments and
executions of anyone so much as daring to deviate from the strict
form of Islam it propagates.